Libby Hackett, Chief Executive of University Alliance, spoke to BBC Radio 4’s ‘You&Yours’ programme on the Department of Education’s decision to publish data on the number of pupils schools are sending to Russell Group universities.
“Our concern is that this is embedding a very traditional prejudice within the university system. Of course there are hundreds of outstanding programmes across Russell Group universities but if we are wishing to encourage our schools and teachers to be giving good information, advice and guidance we need to be using an accurate measure of those best university courses.
“There are hundreds of outstanding university programmes outside the Russell Group where the students go onto fantastic career opportunities and these are highly popular courses with high grade offers and great work with employers. There is no reason why the Department of Education need to do this when there is a very easy fix. A simple list of the best courses in the UK would provide an excellent list that would be challenging to schools to get more students into these leading courses.”
Listen to the programme (28 mins, 30sec)